Here are five new hard truths you must accept and embrace in order to survive and thrive in this Gig Economy:

Hard Truth #1: Work-Life Balance is so 2013

When you love what you do, work is life. Meaning there’s no need to balance one vs. the other. You wouldn’t obsess over sport-life balance, right? That’s because playing sports is something you enjoy. Work shouldn’t be any different.

Maybe trying to balance your work vs. your life made sense when you hid out in a big corporation watching the clock. But loving what you do is likely one of the reasons you went into business for yourself in the first place. So, why would your hires be any different? They shouldn’t. Only engage people who are passionate about their work. Excitement matters more than anything, experience included.

Hard Truth #2: Mistakes Rock (If You Learn From Them)

This may sound cliché but seriously, if you’re always right, you don’t learn anything. If you don’t learn anything, you can’t succeed.

So don’t be afraid to take risks and then fail, blunder, hit your head against the wall. When you pick yourself back up, just make sure you figured out what to do the next time to avoid the same problem.

Being wrong is free. Embrace it. Learn from it. Boldly move forward.

Hard Truth #3: Quality Beats Geography

What matters is the quality of your talent's work, not where they do it. (Take that, Marrisa Mayer.) Don’t get me wrong. I don’t advocate ditching face-to-face altogether. Give your employees a welcoming hub and get together for meetings and brainstorms in person as much as possible.

But the everyday work? Who cares if it’s done in the office at a desk or sitting in the sand at the beach? You want your talent to be as comfortable as possible so that they’ll perform their best. You want the smartest employees and contractors no matter what city, country, or continent they happen to be in. Grant your workers flexibility and reap the benefits.

Hard Truth #4: Goodbye, Middlemen

In the olden days, when you needed to do something outside your business’s wheelhouse, you’d contact a company who specialized in finding the right talent.

Now? Say you need a logo designed, business proposal written, promo video voiced? Go direct. Tap into an online marketplace where a diverse array of global entrepreneurs offers their services. The best platforms are so fast and easy to use (not to mention free) that you can even try out a few different options to find that perfect match.

Hard Truth #5: Supply It and They Will Come

It might sound counterintuitive, but you should start with supply and not demand. Assuming your product or service has value to a substantial audience, create inventory first or take time to hone your skills in order to entice customers.

As more and more of us start our own businesses, we’re increasingly working in an entrepreneur’s world. Embrace this Gig Economy by shaking off the old paradigm and keeping your eye on what matters: passion, risk-taking, quality, and efficiency. It’s the only way forward.